The hiring of Bryan Colangelo and resignation of Sam Hinkie doesn’t signal “a departure from a process,” Colangelo insisted Sunday as the Sixers introduced him as their new president of basketball operations, as Christopher A. Vito for The Delaware County Daily Times observes. Colangelo nonetheless expects a “summer of change” for the roster, suggesting that with as many as four draft picks this year, all in the first round, the Sixers will consider parlaying some of that youth into more experienced talent. “You can only have so many developing players on your roster at a time, so there may be some decision to defer some of those to a future date, or may be a decision to package some of those things to acquire players that make sense and fit our strategy,” Colangelo said. “… It’s about putting a basketball team together. We’re really changing our focus toward winning. It’s part of a shift in culture, a mindset. I think [coach] Brett [Brown] is excited about shifting that. … There’s going to be a much-greater likelihood that we win basketball games.”

See more from Philadelphia amid news from the Atlantic Division:

Elton Brand, whose signing earlier this season was one of the team’s first moves away from developing players, thinks he’ll retire at season’s end, Vito notes (Twitter link). Brand, 37, also thought he’d retire this past summer before the Sixers came calling.

GM Masai Ujiri‘s contract with the Raptors is believed to be worth $15MM, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange, so it appears the executive is seeing an average of $3MM annually on the five-year deal. Grange wonders whether the Raptors will explore restructuring the pact, which has two years left on it, now that the Knicks are reportedly eyeing him.

DeMar DeRozan admitted Sunday to a fondness for playing in Madison Square Garden, but he said he didn’t know whether he would consider the Knicks in free agency this summer, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Of course, it’s par for the course that a soon-to-be free agent would praise the Garden, and all indications are DeRozan will re-sign with the Raptors, as Grange points out, given the shooting guard’s consistent praise for Toronto and the organization.

There’s also tax issues to consider in NBA free agency. Players on Texas and Florida teams pay no state income taxes. On a maximum contract, that amounts to millions. Players on the Toronto Raptors have to pay higher taxes in Canada than in those in the United States. Each percentage point difference represents a million dollars on a $100M deal.

That is true at the federal level but when you add in state and local taxes as well as jock tax in some US cities and states there are some California teams that may have a higher total tax bill . That doesn’t seem to have stopped say Golden State.
As a Canadian I looked at this in hockey and Toronto seems to be at the high end but is not the highest in North America.

California is high and Golden State does have trouble attracting free agents. They assembled this squad almost entirely through the draft and trades. They tanked for several years to assemble the team they have.

City jock taxes play no factor, because players choose to live outside the city. Being taxed on working in the city on game day applies to home and visiting players.

Toronto signed James Johnson and Demarre Caroll. So it’s not absolute. However, they are at a disadvantage. We can argue about the extent.

Doesn’t the jock tax effect visiting players as well? And there appear to be a lot of state jock taxes not just city so in that case living outside of city wouldn’t affect it. I also would have thought that where you ply your trade ( in the city) would determine whether that is paid. So apparently for pro athletes they have over a dozen tax returns to sign off on, many of which are from cities and states they visit to play a game.